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Asus P5K3 Premium Black Pearl Edition Review

Installation:

The installation of the P5K3 Premium into the chassis of your choice is not much different from the installation of a generic work station board. The first thing to do on a new build would be to prep the chassis for the board by installing the standoffs and I/O plate specific to the motherboard.

Next on the list would be to prep the motherboard for installation. Install the processor into the "Black Pearl" by carefully indexing it into the socket. Lock the retaining lever into place and mount the cooling solution of your choice. For this build I will be using a water cooling solution. In lieu of a massive heatsink, I will install a CPU waterblock. The installation is basically the same; slide the backing plate into position under the motherboard, line up the screw holes and tighten it down in a criss cross pattern until it is securely mounted.

At this point I usually install the system memory, but with the P5K3 Premium I don't have to as it's already built onto the motherboard. The board comes with two blower style fans that mount onto the heatsinks around the CPU socket. These cannot be used with a large air cooling solution for the CPU, but under a water cooling environment, they provide the additional airflow to these heatsinks. To mount the fan, push the tabs on the side in and slide the fan down into place and the "Black Pearl" is ready for the seas...errr...case!

Insert the motherboard into the chassis and secure it down to the standoffs. Insert the graphics card and any other peripheral cards. Make all of the wiring and drive connections, In this build I will install all of the liquid line connections, prime and leak check before powering up the system and complete any housekeeping and wire management before buttoning up the chassis.